EVANSVILLE, Ind. — After the Harrison High School football team lost a game a couple of years ago, Jessica Greulich walked down onto the field at Romain Stadium to reassure some of her son’s friends on the team.

“Good job, buddy, love ya,” Greulich told one of them as she patted his shoulder pads.

Greulich, 43, has been the helping hand for many of the Warriors since her oldest son Nathan, who is now a senior, started playing in first grade.

She provided his teammates rides to and from practice, and she took them out to eat after games and to church on the weekends. She did whatever she could to help those who needed it.

Jessica Greulich, mother of two Harrison high school students, prepares meals for the Harrison's football team with words of support on each bag. Greulich said "It's not that you're poor and need food, it's that you're loved."(Photo: MaCabe Brown / Courier & Press)

“I grew up a poor kid,” Greulich said. “A lot of people helped my family out; so I have always wanted to give back.”

She understands what it’s like being a child in a family living month to month. It’s stressful enough being a teenager without worrying about whether there's food to eat.

There are about 65 football players at Harrison. Greulich guesses 90 percent of them qualify for the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp.'s free-and-reduced-price lunch program. So on game days, some don’t have food from when they eat a tiny school lunch at noon until 10 p.m.

Greulich, the CEO of Word Harvest Ministries, provides 300 paper bag meals per week for every football player, coach, trainer and band member. Everyone eats on Game Day — freshmen on Mondays, junior varsity on Thursdays and varsity on Fridays.

“These kids are hungry,” Greulich said. “When you’re a hungry kid, you’re not thinking about math, you’re thinking about how you’re going to get your next meal.”

Jessica Greulich hands out meals to players outside Harrison's locker room after a football game against Mater Dei Friday, August 31, 2018. She said "It's not that you're poor and need food, it's that you're loved." Greulich feeds hungry players after every game and practice.(Photo: MaCabe Brown / Courier & Press)

She tells them: "It's not that you're poor and need food, it's that you're loved."

Each bag has a sandwich, fruit, vegetables and crackers, among other items. On the outside is an encouraging note, a reminder they’re cared about.

“It gives us hope and makes us feel loved,” senior Adam Cooper said. “A lot of us can’t eat, and a lot of us are going through struggles at home. When she goes out of her way to do that, that’s a lot of love.”

Greulich and her husband Kerry have paid for “99 percent” of items they've donated. They care because they have two sons at Harrison. Nathan is a senior on the football team while Zach is a junior who doesn’t play football but was just named the Harrison student of the month.

“Everyone knows my mom,” Nathan Greulich said. “Even people who aren’t on the team, they know we’re always there to help somebody.”

Harrison (1-2) is coming off back-to-back losses by final scores of 49-14 and 50-6. Plus, they’re already stretched thin. Multiple players have concussions, others have ankle injuries. Nate Greulich has a broken hand but has been cleared to play this Friday.

Second-year coach Lane Oxley is trying to focus on the positives as he works to get the program in order.

“Win or lose, she’s always there,” Oxley said. “You always know she’s going to be there to support and to give our kids love and understanding.”

The Warriors have tried to pay it forward because Greulich has helped them with everything from school supplies to paying for senior pictures. About a dozen of them volunteered to help her hand out groceries to 176 families at a food drive on July 28.

“They did that because I’ve always been there for them, and they stepped up to help me,” she said.

She recently requested a $20,000 grant from Shell Oil Company to renovate the basement at Word Harvest Ministries. Greulich wants to install a laundry room and a kitchenette so she can teach life skills to high school-age boys and girls. She wants to ensure they know how to feed themselves and clean their clothes when they start adulthood.

Harrison doesn’t always seem to have as much support as other city schools, for whatever reason. Except, Greulich is always there to show she cares.

“I hope they appreciate what she’s doing because it’s making them better people,” Oxley said. “She’s so giving that you hear a lot of pleases and thank yous out of them that you might not hear as much. She’s a saint.”

If your football team has an interesting story to be told, let Courier & Press columnist Chad Lindskog know at chad.lindskog@courierpress.com or on Twitter: @chadlindskog